Stories and ideas about being in harmony and at peace with the Creation.
The last Juno Awards, which took place in Winnipeg, Canada in March 2014, were the scene of a prolific encounter: that of Matt Epp and Willard Metzger. It seems strange that Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Epp, born in a Mennonite family, should meet Willard Metzger, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada (MCC), in a big …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/03/matt-epp-visits-coffee-for-peace/
Engineering was Alkuino’s love from an early age, but his parents urged him to study agriculture so that he could take charge of the family farm. After earning his degree at the University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Agriculture, Alkuino dutifully returned to Valencia to cultivate corn. But when a seven-month drought caused the loss …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/03/brickmaking-ministry-part-1/
One of the most distressing calls for justice around the world today comes from the Indigenous voice. Amplified by the indignities suffered through historic theft and displacement of their life and land, their marginalization today is a story told to many but heard by few. As the world changes so must they, but how they …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/indigenous-rights-and-the-mennonites-from-panama-to-the-philippines/
On Monday the 16th, after attending the spectacular Awong Chi Gangsa ceremony, we enjoyed an afternoon of good fellowship at the Grand Zion Hotel. Darnell, Regina and Bryan from PeaceChurch; Twinkle’s mother, grandmother, and cousins; and Kuya Dann talked of all their dreams and plans for PeaceChurch in Manila, and for Twinkle’s PAR network …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/strengthening-our-relationship-in-the-cordilleras/
In Tabuk City, on Saturday the 14th, we met with the farmers of Asimbanglan. Hart and Ginny Wiens hosted the meeting, and they helped us to explain to the farmers that it had never been our intention to mislead them or to leave them hanging. Kuya Dann gave the farmers a rundown of the many …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/cordillera-listening-tour-part-4-feb-14-15/
In the mid-morning of Saturday, February 7th, I and PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) CEO Rev. Dann Pantoja (Kuya Dann to me) boarded a bus in Manila bound for Baguio City. It was the start of PeaceBuilders’ February 2015 Listening Tour in the Cordillera Region, with objectives which I have previously detailed. We spent the night of the 7th at the Baguio Village …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/cordillera-listening-tour-part-1-feb-7-9/
Since the 8th of this month, PeaceBuilders CEO Rev. Daniel Pantoja and I have been traveling around the Cordillera region of northern Luzon under the guidance of PeaceBuilders’ own native Cordilleran missionary Twinkle Alngag Bautista. One major objective of our sojourn in the North is to listen and take note of the concerns and aspirations of Cordillerans — particularly those who …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/listening-to-the-tingyens-of-abra/
We at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the 44 men of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, and also to the families of the 16 members of the Moro community, who lost their lives in Mamasapano, Maguindano during a tragic clash in the pre-dawn hours of 25 January 2015. As …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/pbci-mourns-for-the-mamasapano-victims/
Among the stacks of case files in the archives of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) is a fat plastic folder labeled “Dulangan Manobo Farmers,” and stuffed with dozens of documents given to PBCI over the years by the leaders and representatives of the Dulangan Manobo tribe of Sultan Kudarat Province, Mindanao. Some of the documents are …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/voices-from-the-dulangan-manobo-file/
Disaster Response Networks (DRN’s) coordinated and led by PBCI relief operations trainer Kriz Cruzado have been traveling around Eastern Samar distributing aid since December 19th. As the area was hit by Tropical Storm Seniang in late December, regional needs have ramped up from the already high level caused by Typoon Hagupit. This has not stopped …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/relief-operations-on-pace-in-eastern-samar/
Recently, I have been tasked with researching the history of the CPP-NPA, or the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army. Under the banner of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, there has been a communist presence in the Philippines for over 40 years now, and they have been waging …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/a-difference-of-perspectiv-natural-disasters-and-social-justice/
As the PeaceBuilders team embarks upon another year of ministry, many projects and needs call for our attentions. In order to practice good stewardship of the talents and resources that God has entrusted to us, it is necessary for us prayerfully to evaluate which of all these potential projects requires urgent and immediate action. We must also endeavor to …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/our-peacebuilding-plans-for-the-new-year/
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